Digby Solomon on approaches to getting old

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This week, our readers had a lot to say about the increased speed limits along I-64 in Hampton and Newport News and considered constitutional rights in the case of a West Point teacher fired for misusing a student's preferred gender pronoun.

And you can submit a letter to the editor by emailing letters@dailypress.com.

This week, our readers had a lot to say about the increased speed limits along I-64 in Hampton and Newport News and considered constitutional rights in the case of a West Point teacher fired for misusing a student's preferred gender pronoun.

And you can submit a letter to the editor by emailing letters@dailypress.com.

CAPTION

This week, our readers had a lot to say about the increased speed limits along I-64 in Hampton and Newport News and considered constitutional rights in the case of a West Point teacher fired for misusing a student's preferred gender pronoun.

And you can submit a letter to the editor by emailing letters@dailypress.com.

This week, our readers had a lot to say about the increased speed limits along I-64 in Hampton and Newport News and considered constitutional rights in the case of a West Point teacher fired for misusing a student's preferred gender pronoun.

And you can submit a letter to the editor by emailing letters@dailypress.com.

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Sunday's snowstorm has slow parts of the Peninsula and Northern Neck to a halt. So it made us wonder what folks do when they don't have to go to school and are generally snowed in.

So we ask: What are some of your favorite snow day traditions?

Let us know by emailing letters@dailypress.com or by commenting on our Facebook stories about the storm at www.facebook.com/dailypressnews.

Sunday's snowstorm has slow parts of the Peninsula and Northern Neck to a halt. So it made us wonder what folks do when they don't have to go to school and are generally snowed in.

So we ask: What are some of your favorite snow day traditions?

Let us know by emailing letters@dailypress.com or by commenting on our Facebook stories about the storm at www.facebook.com/dailypressnews.

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Today, Dec. 5, is a national day of mourning because of the passing of former president George H.W. Bush.

We wanted to pause today to ask what the 41st president's legacy meant to your lives. Were you or a family member deployed during Operation Desert Storm? Did you work on building CVN 77, the USS George H. W. Bush?

We'd love to hear your thoughts about the president. You can write to us at letters@dailypress.com or comment on our Facebook posts at https://www.facebook.com/dailypressnews.

Today, Dec. 5, is a national day of mourning because of the passing of former president George H.W. Bush.

We wanted to pause today to ask what the 41st president's legacy meant to your lives. Were you or a family member deployed during Operation Desert Storm? Did you work on building CVN 77, the USS George H. W. Bush?

We'd love to hear your thoughts about the president. You can write to us at letters@dailypress.com or comment on our Facebook posts at https://www.facebook.com/dailypressnews.

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Doing something kind can be one of the easiest - and most fulfilling - things you do today.

That's why the Daily Press is helping highlight acts of kindness through a campaign with the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula.

We've asked you to write in to share your acts of kindness. And you can still submit your experiences by writing to us at letters@dailypress.com.

We want to hear about acts of kindness regardless of whether they are large or small.

Doing something kind can be one of the easiest - and most fulfilling - things you do today.

That's why the Daily Press is helping highlight acts of kindness through a campaign with the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula.

We've asked you to write in to share your acts of kindness. And you can still submit your experiences by writing to us at letters@dailypress.com.

We want to hear about acts of kindness regardless of whether they are large or small.

A poignant scene in an otherwise forgettable Indiana Jones movie has our hero seated at his desk surveying pictures of dead loved ones while a colleague murmurs: “We’ve reached the age at which life takes more from you than it gives.”

Now that I’ve rounded the corner into the latter half of my 60s, I sometimes find myself brooding more over losses than victories:

I’ve lost loved ones and friends.

I’ve lost hair but not, alas, weight.

I’ve retired from the job that gave me my identity for four decades.

Everything takes more effort and my muscles get sprained more often, leading me to physical therapy centers where I find myself surrounded by other senior citizens.

I always wonder if I look to the staff as doddering as my fellow patients appear to me, and whether they pity me.

And then you hear about people like Arthur Ashkin.

The laser pioneer won the Nobel Prize in physics last week for developing a way to use laser light as tweezers to manipulate living cells, an idea right out of the tractor beams in SciFi movies.

At age 96, he is the oldest person to receive the prize.

Here’s the kicker: He told the prize committee he might not be available for interviews about his award because he is too busy working on his next scientific paper!

Ashkin embodies the spirit of a dear colleague of mine whom I visited in the hospital after he suffered a massive heart attack.

I was sympathizing and whining about the aging process, trying out the Indiana Jones line.

Life doesn’t take from you, he chided me, it gives you what you decide to take from it.

I have a longtime friend and neighbor who is literally a rocket scientist — retired NASA — who explained to me the secret to a successful retirement.

As he approached retirement age, he researched his options as exhaustively as he once researched landing sites for man’s first moon landing.

He concluded that a happy retirement has five major building blocks:

Never stop learning.

Keep physically active.

Remain involved in your community.

Volunteer to serve others.

Remain close to your faith.

He was one of several people in their 80s who used to work out in the gym at 5 every morning with me when I was a callow youth in my 50s.

One neighbor danced competitively to keep arthritis under control, and she still teaches ballroom dancing every week despite knee surgery.

They loved to talk politics and religiously attended lectures at the Christopher Wren Association’s school of continuing education.

Another friend from church, a retired doctor, is a Christopher Wren lecturer and recently wrote a book tracing the history of medicine.

As they aged, my friends took on new challenges that raising children and working demanding jobs did not permit when they were younger.

Those whose health and income permits travel extensively.

Those who are less well off or physically challenged find pleasure in other pursuits, including reading and gardening.

They remember the past with pleasure but focus on the future, taking pride in the achievements of their children and grandchildren.

Rather than counting their losses, they look forward to new possibilities.

We should all be so lucky, regardless of age.

Solomon, the former publisher of the Daily Press, writes a weekly column. Send email to solocolumn@gmail.com.